It’s going to be a great, but busy spring and summer for the Callaway community. There are lots of events in which we will welcome newcomers to the community, celebrate outstanding citizens or organizations, make lots of new friends with bike riders coming to and through Callaway, make some money with garage sales and feeding those bikers and of course, celebrate our community during Pioneer Picnic. Lots happening, and lots of opportunities for clubs and organizations.

With all these things going on, it will take all of us, the whole community to volunteer and step up to be the Best Host Community in the State! Something we are already known for!

These are events the Callaway Chamber organizes, plans or coordinates but the whole community is invited to participate and help and volunteer to make these events successful and fun. It takes all of us. Working together, great things will happen in Callaway.

Added to these events this year, the Chamber will be awarding the Citizen or Organization of the Year award. Nomination forms are available at Great Western Bank. If you know of someone or some organization that has made outstanding contributions to the community the past year, you are welcome to nominate them. The Chamber will give them special recognition. The public, the whole community is invited to join in this potluck supper celebration event on Sunday, April 3 at the Callaway Community Center beginning at 5 p.m.

The next event is BRAN – Bike Ride Across Nebraska. The riders will come to town on Tuesday, June 7 for an overnight stay. Callaway has hosted this group many times over the past 40 years. This is a great opportunity for businesses and organizations to make some money as these approximately 750 riders and support personnel riding in from Thedford will need to eat several times on Tuesday and have breakfast early Wednesday morning before they leave for Ord. All riders carry a BRAN booklet that tells who is serving food and when and where. If you would like to place an ad in this booklet, call Ken Pitkin at 308-870-1227 today.

Hosting BRAN truly will involve the whole community. While the vast majority of riders will sleep in tents at the practice football field, some riders prefer beds. There is a need for an individual who will coordinate those willing to host a rider(s) and those desiring a bed for the night. This is yet another opportunity, as those willing to host a rider or two will receive a nominal fee. BRAN officials estimate that every host community gets a $10,000 to $20,000 impact with money spent in the community! More information will follow on what other volunteers are needed. Please consider helping out your community.

Next on the calendar is the Community Wide Garage Sales. They are Saturday, June 11. Look for registration forms soon, and mark your calendar.

On Thursday, June 23, Tour de Nebraska, another biking group, will pass through Callaway. They start in Broken Bow, ride to Callaway where we will host them from 7:30 a.m. – noon, providing brunch for the approximately 450 riders plus 50 support personnel. This is an opportunity again for local businesses and organizations to put some extra money in their pockets. They travel on to Oconto and then back to Broken Bow to spend another night.

And finally, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 24, 25 and 26 will be the Pioneer Picnic. A fun time with races, rodeos, parade, kids carnival, dances, car show, bingo, basketball, dodgeball, toad and turtle races, dunking booth and more to add to the celebration. And gathering with friends and neighbors makes it a special weekend. More information will follow as event planning continues.

The Callaway Chamber plans, helps host, and helps coordinate these community wide events. What a fun summer is coming up. We hope you will volunteer to help make these events happen and that you have great fun too.

If you are willing to work on a committee with others or want more information, please contact Stacey Guthard, Kelsey Wyckoff, Matt Stutzman or Ken Pitkin.